By Dan Beard

Fig. 207 1/2. Indian gesture language for Merry Christmas, and is to be read
"Sun shine in the heart a baby boy, Great Mystery, born on this day."

The idea of using gesture signals of the Indian as a universal language among the white people was first suggested by the writer to
the American boys in various magazine articles and his books for boys. Since
then others have taken up the idea and developed it, so in place of writing an exhaustive book on
gesture language, he has tried to select a few gestures for this book which are
in use at the present time and
which, if adopted by us all would make a short and simple system, easily
understood and of practical service.

GESTURE SIGNALS
USED BY BOY SCOUTS, MILITARY MEN, INDIANS, HUNTERS, COWBOYS, AND POLICEMEN

Fig. 208 1/2. Go back! Retreat!
Shoot your arm up then swing it down to your side. Keep doing this until
order is understood. (Military signal.)

Fig. 209. Move faster; advance double quick. (Military signal).

Fig. 210. Attention. Open hand held aloft, arm moved from right to left and
left to right (about six inches) a number of times.

Fig. 211. March--go ahead--advance. (Military signal.)

Fig. 211A. March--go ahead--advance.

Fig. 211 1/2. Come along--follow, according to the circumstances when it is
used. Not so apt to alarm game as the more vigorous military signal. (Hunters in
Africa and America.)

Fig. 212. Move to my left! Surveyors' signal which, reversed, would mean,
move to my right. That this signal may be seen further, a surveyor sometimes
holds a handkerchief in his hand and sometimes his hat in one hand and his handkerchief in the other.
Fig. 212 1/2. Go in this direction! column right! swing your hand from the
shoulder across the body to the other side horizontally until the hand and arm
is extended full length (Military signal.)

Fig. 213. You are at the right
place--Mark it there--Hold your staff there.
Signal used when placing a man in line usually the flagman. (Surveyors' signal.)

Fig. 215. Halt! Used by a lookout, the advanced guard or Scout as a command
to his companions. (Hunters' sign.)

Fig. 216. I can see it--it is in sight--game is in sight--drinking water is in
sight--our friends are in sight--the enemy is in sight. Whatever the Scout is sent
to look for, when he sees it the fact is announced by holding his gun, his,
staff or fishing rod over his head horizontally, grasped by both hands.
(Military and sportsman's sign.)

Fig. 216A. What? (Military signal.)

Fig. 216 1/2. Open hand moved from right to left in front of eyes, a question,
What see you? (Military sign.)

Fig. 217. Not in sight. Whenever the advanced Scout is unable to see the object of his search the fact is
announced by his holding his Scout staff, his gun, his fishing rod or other
similar object upright at full arm's length above his head. (Plainsman's
signal.)

Fig. 218. Caution--Be careful--Advance with care, look out for yourselves. Signal is made by holding the
right hand up, the left hand down in a straight line with each other and slowly
lowering the right hand and raising the left hand and repeating the motion three
times. This may mean that there is a treacherous bog or a dangerous trail of any
kind; it may mean dangerous animals, an ugly dog, or a vicious bull.

Fig. 219. Noting to fear--a
friend, all clear. From a universal sign--throw up your hands--used
to designate a safe trail or to say
you are safe in coming this way,
or I am a friend, I will not harm
you; as the occasion may require. (Hold-up man's sign.)

Fig. 220. I have found it. When the party is sent in search of something,
usually some object lost, if his search is successful he announces the fact by
throwing a handful of dust in the air. (Gypsy, Hunters' and Boy Pioneer
sign.)

Fig. 221. Stoop down--lie down--dismount! Hands and forearm extended in front
of the body, hands then quickly moved downward, often accompanied by bending the
body as the hands are moved downwards. (Hunters,' woodcrafters' and military
signal.)

Fig. 222. Who are you? Index and second finger of each hand pointing forward
and upward, arms sharply brought up to the height of the head with the fingers
pointing up. (Western Indian sign or signal.)

Fig. 223. A Scout. The wolf, to the Indians' minds is the greatest scout
among the animals and the gesture sign for a wolf is made by
closing the fist with the exception
of the first and second fingers;
these are spread wide apart to rep
present the wolf's ears and the
hand is held out about the height
of the eyes and then moved forward with an up and down motion
as if the animal were loping. The
wolf being the scout among animals,
the same sign is used for both
wolf and Scout. This sign given
in reply to the sign "who are you?"
would mean "I am a Scout."
(Indian sign.)

Fig. 224. An American--a white man--a "Boston" man.
First
doubled up thumb on the outside
of the fingers, thumb placed over
the eyebrow to the left side of the
face, then drawn sharply across
to the right as shown in the dotted
lines in the diagram to indicate
a hat brim; this in reply to the question "who are you?" would say, "I am an
American--a white man--a Boston man"; among Indians represents a man from
the East.

Fig. 224 A. Me or I.
Fig. 224 B. Afraid.
Fig. 224 C. You, all of you, any of you. Fig. 224 D. No. No in Military signals is "K" of the semaphore code, while
yes is "P" of the semaphore code.

Fig. 225. This has always been among American boys used as the sign for
swimming. It means "come and go a-swimming," "I am going
a-swimming," or "are you going swimming?" according to the way in
which one uses it. In our first Boy Scouts' Society here in America, known as the
Sons of Daniel
Boone, before the English Boy Scouts was organized, the same position of the
hand was used as a salute, or to indicate a scout; the hand was held up with the
palm out, then moved with an up and down motion from the person, the fingers
representing the ears of a wolf and the motion the loping action of that animal.
The wolf, among Indians, being considered the scouting animal and typical of a
Scout. When Baden-Powell, remodeled our American Scout idea to fit the the English
boys, he added a third finger to the sign using the three fingers to stand
for the three promises in the Scout
Oath.

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